In the West Wesleyan continued their strong play winning comfortably 10-4 over Hamilton. Nick Cooney ’15 had another great start, and Robby Harbison ’17 went yard twice. The Hamilton website has a complete recap.
Trinity’s defense let down their pitching with seven errors against Bates. The Bobcats capitalized scoring nine runs in the game. Brad Reynolds ’14 got his fourth win of the season as Bates moved to 3-2 in the NESCAC.
Amherst sweated out two wins against a Middlebury team that has seen their pitching and defense go through an enormous mid-season improvement. Dylan Driscoll ’14 went seven scoreless innings, but that wasn’t even the most impressive pitching performance of the day. John Cook went TEN innings in the second game. Amherst won in extras 2-1 on a Tyler Jacobs ’15 homer. No recap is available, but here are the stats and play by play.
In non-conference play, Bowdoin hung with D3 power Southern Maine before succumbing 5-3. Henry Van Zant ’15 had his longest outing of the season throwing five innings.
Not much has changed since we last put out power rankings, other than Queen Elsa reclaiming her icy hold on the NESCAC lands. Tufts is still dominating the league with their 70’s Orioles-like pitching staff, although Trinity did hand them their first NESCAC loss on Saturday in a 8-7 nail biter that took 9 innings. There does appear to be a chink in Tuft’s armor, however. They are only hitting .212 in NESCAC play, good for ninth in the league. This is probably just a slump, and their pitching is making up for it, but if it’s a bigger issue, it could set the Jumbos train off the tracks.
2. Wesleyan (18-5, 6-0)
In our previous power rankings, we put Amherst over Wesleyan, and clearly Wesleyan listened. They are the only undefeated team in league play, sitting at 6-0. Although it is true that their wins are over Williams and Middlebury, two struggling teams, the level of dominance that they’ve asserted cannot be ignored. The weekend of April 25 pits Wesleyan against Amherst, in a series that should settle the West supremacy debate, at least until the playoffs.
3. Amherst (18-5, 4-1)
Much like Wesleyan, Amherst has been playing very well, both before league play and in NESCAC. The Lord Jeffs are 4-1, the only blemish being the loss to Williams that puts them below Wesleyan in these rankings. Again, the Jeffs face off against Wesleyan on the 25, a series that is looking more and more like something ESPN should cover, based on it’s importance to the league.
4. Colby (13-6, 4-2)
The teams behind Tufts were locked in a tight battle for second for most of the season, but Colby has separated themselves from the pack with a strong showing in NESCAC play. The Mules are 4-2, including an impressive series win over Bowdoin last week. Colby doesn’t have many stars, but they are solid and play well as a team, which, as numerous sports movies can tell us, is usually more effective.
5. Bowdoin (13-9-1, 4-5)
While Colby has separated themselves with strong NESCAC play, Bowdoin has been struggling somewhat, after a strong start. They’ve lost 4 of 6, losing series to rivals Colby and Bates. The problems lie mainly in a struggling offense, which is performing far below preseason expectations. Like Tufts, Bowdoin’s offensive struggles could just be a slump, but it will have to end soon, as their pitching is not good enough to carry them through a prolonged drought.
6. Bates (11-10, 2-2)
Bates has been one of the more consistent teams throughout the year, sitting at 11-10 and 2-2 in NESCAC. Their team stats have remained remarkably the same, avoiding some of the offensive struggles that have plagued other teams. However, Bates’ consistency does not add up to enough talent for them to compete in the tough Eastern division.
7. Hamilton (8-9, 1-4)
Like the middle of the Eastern pack, the bottom of the West is a close race, although there is not quite as much talent. Although Hamilton is only 1-4 in the league, their overall “success” puts them barely above Middlebury and Williams. However, Middlebury seems to have found something of a rhythm, and if those two trends continue, Hamilton could easily sink to the bottom.
8. Trinity (9-14, 3-6)
This has been a tough year for Trinity, who came in to the year with very high expectations. First year coach Brian Adamski’s squad has struggled in most categories, translating to a last place ranking in the East. However, they were able to steal a game in the Tufts series, and if they can sweep their upcoming series’ against Bates, a playoff push could still be in the cards if everything breaks right.
9. Williams (7-11, 2-7)
Williams and Middlebury have become almost interchangeable at the bottom of the east, but they are trending in different directions. Williams has lost 4 in a row, and the pitching staff that has held them back all season has not improved in any measurable way.
10. Middlebury (4-12, 2-7)
The Panthers, on the other hand, seem to have found some small measure of rhythm in their season. They took two of three from Hamilton last weekend, and seem to be gaining confidence as the young players get more experience. A strong showing this coming weekend against Amherst, coupled with continued poor play from Williams and Hamilton, could catapult the Panthers out of the cellar and finally into the sun.
With a few weekends left before the season draws to a close we thought now was a good time to put forth our awards for the year thus far. We took into account the entire season, but weighted conference performance above all.
West Division
Courtesy of Amherst Athletics
MVP – Mike Odenwaelder ’16 Outfielder/Pitcher (Amherst) – Odenwaelder wins by a thread over many other deserving candidates. Odenwaelder is thumping the ball all over the place with a .447 average and top-notch .697 slugging percentage. He leads Amherst with 21 RBIs and is tied with Connor Gunn ’16 with three homers. All that being said, what puts him over the top is his mound dominance. The sophomore is so talented that he has pitched 20.2 innings for a team loaded with pitching. His 1.74 ERA is the sixth best mark in the NESCAC and he has held opponents to a .123 average. The only runs he has allowed were in his first appearance of the season. Odenwaelder is not one of the weekend starters (yes, Amherst is that talented), but his arm is one of the most electric in the league.
Honorable Mention- Joe Jensen ’15 (Hamilton), Donnie Cimino ’15 (Wesleyan), Alex Kelly ’14 (Middlebury) and Matt Kastner ’14 (Williams)
Courtesy of Amherst Athletics
Most Valuable Pitcher – Dylan Driscoll ’14 (Amherst) – Amherst garners another award because one of the main reasons Odenwaelder isn’t starting is the performance of the Jeffs’ other starters, Driscoll in particular. The only team that has gotten to Driscoll is Williams, who roughed up the righty for six runs. Besides that, Driscoll has allowed one run in four starts which all lasted at least seven innings. A 1.50 ERA through 36 innings is nothing to scoff at. He barely walks anybody, yielding only four free passes on the season, but he still strikes batters out at a 8.50 K/9 rate. The senior is the leader of a staff that is deep in experience and talent.
Honorable Mention- Jjay Lane ’15 (Hamilton), Nick Cooney ’15 (Wesleyan) and John Cook ’15 (Amherst)
Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics
Most Improved Player – Joe Jensen ’15 Outfielder (Hamilton) – Last season Jensen was a stolen base savant who got on-base at an about league average rate of .347. This season, however, the Hamiltonian lead-off man has morphed into an on-base machine still capable of wreaking havoc on the base paths. A big reason for his .514 OBP is that he doesn’t strike out often while also drawing a lot of walks. He has as many walks, 10, as strikeouts. That, coupled with speed that earned him a second-place finish in the 400m final at the March NCAA Indoor Championships, Jensen maximizes his chances of getting on-base even when he doesn’t connect with the ball well. He has been carrying the Hamilton offense for most of the season.
Honorable Mention – Andrew Vandini ’16 (Amherst), Luke Pierce ’16 (Williams) and Max Araya ’16 (Middlebury)
Courtesy of Williams Athletics
Rookie of the Year – Jack Cloud ’17 Outfielder (Williams) – Wesleyan’s Robby Harbison is making a strong push for this award right now, but Cloud’s body of work is better at this point. An OBP of .459 and slugging percentage of .600 would be exceptional for a senior, and to do it as a freshman is almost unheard of. After only striking out only once in his first 11 games, Cloud has been rung up 10 times in his last six contests, but he is still getting on-base, having hit safely in five of those last six. He has not kept up the torrid pace he established at the beginning of the season, but those numbers were almost impossible to continue.
Honorable Mention – Robby Harbison ’17 (Wesleyan), Ellis Schaefer ’17 (Wesleyan), Kenny Collins ’17 (Hamilton) and Jason Lock ’17 (Middlebury)
East Division
Courtesy of Colby Athletics
MVP – Jason Buco ’15 Outfielder (Colby) – This pick might come as a surprise to some. Nobody in the East sticks out from the crowd, but Buco gets the nod over a number of others. A case could be made that teammate Kevin Galvin ’14 is having a slightly better season offensively. His OBP of .469 is 50 percentage points better than Buco’s, more than making up for Buco’s 48 percentage points advantage in slugging percentage. One big difference is that Buco’s defense has been much better. Galvin plays a more demanding position in third base, but his fielding percentage of .806 is still far too low. Buco’s four home runs is tied for tops in the league. Also a star on the football team, Buco is helping to turn around two programs at Colby that are hitting new heights.
Honorable Mention – Kevin Galvin ’14 (Colby), Chad Martin ’16 (Bowdoin), Kevin Davis ’14 (Bates), Griffin Tewksbury ’14 (Bates) and Max Freccia ’14 (Tufts)
Courtesy of Tufts Athletics
Most Valuable Pitcher – Kyle Slinger ’15 (Tufts) – No award is easier to hand out than this one. That is saying a lot considering that the top four and nine of the top 11 league leaders in ERA pitch in the East. Despite that, no pitcher can touch Slinger’s dominance so far. To quickly reiterate what we wrote on Monday, Slinger has a 0.66 ERA and .136 opponents’ batting average for the season. He strikes out one batter an inning and hasn’t allowed a run in his last three starts. The only wart on his resume is the 19 walks he has handed out thus far, but the walk issue is the equivalent of punctuation error in a Pulitzer Prize novel. Slinger has been so good that he garnered consideration for MVP of the East. A plethora of other pitchers are throwing great this season, but nobody can match the Tufts ace.
Honorable Mention: Scott Goldberg ’15 (Colby), Tim Superko ’17 (Tufts), Brad Reynolds ’14 (Bates) and Harry Ridge ’16 (Bowdoin)
Courtesy of Colby Athletics
Most Improved Player – Scott Goldberg ’15 Starting Pitcher (Colby) – When Goldberg got off to a fast start this season some questioned his ability to maintain it given how much he struggled last season. And yet, Goldberg has actually gotten better as the season goes on. He stumbled a bit against Trinity before tossing a gem against Bowdoin going eight innings while allowing two (unearned) runs. A season after posting a 5.50 ERA, he is the justified owner of a mark five times as low: 1.05. Goldberg is also striking out batters at a prodigious rate of 10.52 per nine innings. This award could just as easily have gone to fellow Mule Kevin Galvin ’14, who is enjoying a huge bump in production as well.
Honorable Mentions: Peter Cimini ’16 (Bowdoin), Brian Wolfe ’15 (Trinity) and Kevin Galvin ’14 (Colby)
Courtesy of Tufts Athletics
Rookie of the Year – Tim Superko ’17 Starting Pitcher (Tufts) – If it wasn’t for how well Slinger has been pitching, Superko would be neck and neck with Goldberg for best pitcher in the East. For now he has to be content with being seen as the understudy to Master Slinger. Keep in mind, he is no slouch of an understudy, the owner of a 1.04 ERA and eye-catching 11.77 K/9. His two wins undersells the impact he has had for the Jumbos as a freshman. Last weekend the bullpen blew a lead after Superko threw five innings of one run ball. One knock of him is that he has only pitched 26 innings while never going more than six in a start. As Tufts takes any restrictions off him, Superko will only continue to improve. As an aside, the East is definitely lacking in impact freshmen overall when compared to the West.
Honorable Mention – Ryder Arsenault ’17 (Colby) and Tom Petry ’17 (Tufts)
Tell us what you think, where we went wrong and who we missed in the comments section.
Robby Harbison ’17 Designated Hitter (Wesleyan) – The DH with the slick locks must have noticed we didn’t talk about him in our First Year Spotlight. In the first game of the weekend his two-run double in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie. He followed that up with two 3-4 games in the Saturday doubleheader. On the weekend he totaled three runs and five RBIs. His .410 batting average is the best on Wesleyan, and he has reached base in 13 of Wesleyan’s last 14 games. His hot bat helped Wesleyan to a weekend sweep of Williams. The Cardinals are 6-0 in the NESCAC and look like they could enter the series against Amherst at 9-0.
Scott Goldberg ’15 Starting Pitcher (Colby) – Last season the right hander sported a 5.50 ERA and a .318 opponents’ batting average. This season has been a completely different story for Goldberg. Posting a 1.40 ERA and miniscule .154 opponents’ batting average, he has turned into a bona fide ace for the Mules. On Saturday, he turned in a masterful eight inning performance. Bowdoin only threatened once, in the sixth inning, when they scored two runs, but besides that, Goldberg was all over the Polar Bears. Improvement by returning players has been the key to Colby sitting comfortably in second place in the East right now.
Nick Cooney ’15 Starting Pitcher (Wesleyan) – Wesleyan is getting so much love because their sweep this weekend was the most impressive team performance this season. Cooney was the one who set the tone with his dominance on the mound Friday. He shut down a very good Williams lineup going all nine innings and only allowing one run. Along with Gavin Pittore ’16 and Jeff Blout ’14, Cooney attacked Williams’ hitters early in counts, allowing him to go so deep in the game. Improved pitching has been the key to Wesleyan’s 10-game winning streak since a 24-0 drubbing on March 21 in the Cardinals’ last game in Arizona.
Kyle Slinger ’15 Starting Pitcher (Tufts) – The southpaw was scary good in the opening game of the Tufts-Trinity series. The Bantams could not figure him out all game managing only two hits and three walks as he went all nine innings. His seven strikeouts give him 41 on the season. Opponents are hitting a silly .136 against him meaning his 0.66 ERA through 41 innings is no fluke. To top it off, Slinger already has six wins with plenty of games still to play. A 10-win season is not out of question for the junior. Trinity played the Jumbos really tough, taking the middle game of the series, but the Jumbos showed their mettle holding on to win the final game 3-2. If Slinger continues to pitch this way, you can write in a Tufts victory for the first game of every series.
Stock Down:
Bowdoin Defense – The Saturday doubleheader between Bowdoin and Colby featured two well-played close games between two teams clearly very similar in talent level. The difference in the weekend series was on Friday when Bowdoin had uncharacteristically poor defense. The four errors came at critical times as only one of Colby’s eight runs was earned. The costliest error came in the third when a routine groundball with two outs could not be corralled at second base. With the bases loaded Nate Ellis ’14 delivered a clutch single scoring two runs. Tyler Starks ’16 chased Bowdoin’s starter Harry Ridge ’16 with another two-run single as Colby scored five in the third. The poor defense was a reason for the insertion of Sean Mullaney ’17 at shortstop combined with Aaron Rosen ’15 moving to second base. Mullaney is struggling at the plate, but he plays a great shortstop making Bowdoin strong up the middle.
Jjay Lane ’15 Starting Pitcher (Hamilton) – The Continentals needed a big start by their junior ace to avoid tripping up against Middlebury, but the Panthers jumped all over the Connecticut native. Lane only went three innings before leaving with Middlebury leading 8-1. In fairness to him, the Hamilton defense was terrible behind him leading to only one of his runs being earned, but still the righty was hit hard. Lane isn’t striking out many batters this season, and he just hasn’t had any luck with run support. Despite a 2.37 ERA, Lane is 0-2. Consider this more of an opportunity to buy low on Lane than a signal that Lane has regressed from his 2013 form.
Tom Stephens ’14 Right Fielder (Williams) – This spot could go to any number of Williams’ hitters who struggled over the weekend, but the spotlight falls on Stephens because he went hitless in all three games. Overall, a vaunted lineup scored a combined five runs over three games. Stephens couldn’t get anything going at the plate, striking out four times. The amazing thing is that he still sports a nifty .385/.450/.654 slashline. Stephens was one of the few players last week to hit Amherst’s pitching, so expect him to bounce back soon. Williams’ once-promising season will now almost certainly end without them reaching the playoffs.
We made it to week three of conference play. It finally feels like spring in most of New England even though that still means 50 degrees is warm for most of us. Bates and Amherst are off from conference play, but the rest of the teams play crucial games this weekend.
Marquee Matchup: Bowdoin (12-6-1, 3-3) vs. Colby (10-5, 2-1)
This matchup lacks the gravitas that one might expect from the best series of the weekend. A very strong case could be made that the Wesleyan-Williams series will have the most impact on the standings, but Bowdoin-Colby is still a CBB (Colby, Bowdoin, Bates) matchup with playoff implications. The results of this series will continue the process of sorting out the East behind Tufts.
Bowdoin took a step back last weekend losing two of three against Bates to fall to .500 in conference. Two way player Erik Jacobsen ’15 has arguably been the Bears MVP so far. While his 4.34 ERA doesn’t look great, most of that came as a result of his outing against Bates. What has made him so important is his hitting. Jacobsen’s slashline of .375/.455/.500 is a substantial improvement from last year’s respectable .310/.353/.391. He has had multiple hits in his last three games leading up to this weekend as well. Shortstop Aaron Rosen ’15 has been hitting the ball better highlighted by his 4-5 performance against St. Josephs on Wednesday. A potential difference maker is the bullpen. Michael Staes ’16 (1.45 ERA) and Jon Fraser ’15 (1.74) have looked great in limited roles and could pitch significant innings if one of the starters gets into trouble early.
For Colby everything starts offensively with stud outfielder Jason Buco ’15. His two home runs over the weekend puts him at a league leading four for the season, and his .774 slugging percentage is the best in the NESCAC. His partner in crime is third baseman Kevin Galvin ’14. The Rhode Islander has been one of the most improved players in the NESCAC going from a .267 OBP in 2013 to almost doubling that with a .491 mark this year. The pitching has been much improved as well. Scott Goldberg ’15 has already taken home a NESCAC Pitcher of the Week award. Meanwhile presumptive ace Soren Hanson ’16 has gone six innings and allowed three earned runs in all three of his starts. His strikeouts have gone up every game, so don’t be surprised if he puts it together for the first time very soon. A great start by him would be humongous for the Mules.
Three to Watch
1. Wesleyan Pitching Staff
Yes it is cheating to say you should watch an entire pitching staff and not just one player, but this is an absolutely huge weekend for every pitcher on Wesleyan. Williams showed against Amherst they could hit elite pitching, albeit not at the absurd level they were destroying other pitchers. Wesleyan pitching was straight up bad at the beginning of the season bottoming out when they let up 24 runs to Gustavus Aldophus. At that point their team ERA was 8.03, but in the seven games since then Wesleyan has had a 1.68 ERA. The overall ERA is now 4.85, and if Wesleyan can pitch just at that level it should be enough this weekend. Leading the turnaround have been Nick Cooney ’15, Jeff Blout ’14 and Gavin Pittore ’16. Blout has seen the greatest improvement of all; through four appearances he owned a 9.24 ERA, and in two starts since he has allowed one run for a 0.75 ERA. If Wesleyan wins two out of three the West Division playoff race ceases to exist unless Wesleyan and Amherst falter against lesser opponents.
2. Ryan Carr ’14 Starting Pitcher (Trinity)
The senior has started the final game of both series in conference, and those two games represent Trinity’s only victories in the NESCAC. Despite being 2-4 Trinity still has a chance to make the playoffs, but they need to take two out of three from Tufts for that to be a possibility. Carr hasn’t been spectacular with a 3.62 ERA, and he doesn’t strike a ton of guys out. With the Bantams visiting a powerful Tufts team, Carr needs to come up big once again for his team. If Carr tosses a gem and the Bantams manage to steal another game this weekend, a disappointing season could turn into a late rebound.
3. Zack Becker ’16 Second Baseman (Hamilton)
Becker was expected to do big things his sophomore year after a phenomenal rookie campaign, but it just hasn’t been there for the West Hartford kid. He has gotten on base at a below average rate of .317 OBP, and his slugging percentage is an abysmal .306. He had seemed to turn a corner hitting a homer and then registering his first multi-hit game in a March 24 doubleheader, but he is hitless in three games since then. Becker is too good to continue to struggle, and a breakout is a matter of when not if. Hamilton desperately needs him to be a middle of the order force because some of the freshmen they are having to play are really struggling. A Middlebury team that battled Wesleyan very hard comes to Clinton hungrily looking for their first conference victory. Becker’s time to step up is now.
We wanted to take a minute to highlight a bunch of freshmen who have come into the NESCAC and had immediate impacts. Spring athletes have the advantage over those in other sports because they have two whole semesters to practice and get comfortable with college competition while captains can report back to coaches on first-year’s performances. On the other hand, experience is a valuable asset than isn’t gained in the fall and winter. This is by no means a complete list or ranking of who the best freshman in the NESCAC are, but these are the ones who have caught our eye so far.
Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics
Ellis Schaefer ’17 Third Baseman/Right Fielder (Wesleyan) – Schaefer started from day one in right field, but he has recently moved to the hot corner. His ability with the bat is readily apparent, and his 17 RBIs is second on the team. For the season he owns a .396 OBP and, despite playing two different positions, has committed only one error. Schaefer and Robby Harbison ’17 have taken a lineup that was already loaded and made it Mariana Trench deep.
Courtesy of Amherst Athletics
Anthony Spina ’17 Left Fielder (Amherst) – It isn’t easy to come in and play as a freshman on a team as talented as Amherst, but Spina is the latest in a long line of Jeffs first-years to make a big difference. After getting only one at bat through five games, Spina has started every game since in left field. The Brooklyn boy now holds a .377 OBP and six stolen bases. He went hitless in the three games against Williams, but made up for it yesterday against MIT going 3-6 and scoring the tying run in the bottom of the eight. Spina’s classmate Yanni Thanapoulos ’17 has also emerged recently and has a scalding .524 OBP highlighted by a 3-3 day yesterday. You can read all about Amherst’s comeback win on the Amherst website here.
Courtesy of Colby Athletics
Ryder Arsenault ’17 Center Fielder (Colby) – Arsenault is another player who has worked his way from part time player to lead-off hitter and starting center fielder over the course of the spring. The New Hampton, NH native’s contributions were especially crucial this weekend for the Mules as he had timely hits in all three games. He is yet to make an error in the outfield, and his .444 OBP is ideal for a lead-off hitter. Colby’s success so far this season has been in large part because of returning players stepping their games up, but Arsenault’s play has also played a huge part.
Courtesy of Williams Athletics
Jack Cloud ’17 Left Fielder (Williams) – Earlier in the season, Cloud was overshadowed by fellow freshman Jack Roberts ’17, but while Roberts has regressed somewhat, Cloud has continued his superb play. His OBP of .480 is extraordinary and his slugging percentage of .644 is bolstered by his four triples so far. Cloud has batted near the bottom of the lineup most of the year providing a potent weapon that makes the Williams offense dangerous from top to bottom. Cloud could have a huge weekend against Wesleyan.
Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics
Ryan Wolfsberg ’17 First Baseman/Third Baseman/Right Fielder (Hamilton) – One reason for Hamilton’s offensive struggles this season is that they have a TON of freshmen in the lineup. After Joe Jensen ’15, the next five players in terms of plate appearances are all freshmen. The one who has been the best so far is Wolfsberg, a player without a natural position right now. He has a .405 OBP, but he understandably struggled against elite Amherst pitching. Hamilton will have had almost two weeks between games when they play against Utica today. They need Wolfsberg and some of his classmates like twins Chris and Kenny Collins ’17 to improve throughout the season to continue their nice start.
Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics
Johnny Read ’17 Shortstop (Middlebury) – Middlebury has a couple of other freshmen like Jason Lock ’17 playing well, but Read is the one who could have the biggest impact over the course of his career, purely because of the defensive pressure placed on his position as opposed to Lock, who plays 1B/DH. Read returned from a shoulder injury to play every game against Wesleyan and looks like he is the starting shortstop from now on. At 6’2″ he could become a shortstop in the Nomar Garciaparra mold capable of playing great defense while hitting for decent power and a top notch average while providing above average speed. He has gotten off to a good start at the plate with .417 OBP in 11 at-bats, and he will continue to grow as Middlebury’s young core develops.
Courtesy of Tufts Athletics
Tim Superko ’17 Starting Pitcher (Tufts) – Superko is easily the best pitcher in the 2017 class so far and has pitched like one of the best pitchers in the NESCAC regardless of year. 30 Ks in 21 innings isn’t shabby, and only allowing six walks is just silly. Throw in a .86 ERA and .90 WHIP (walks+hits per innings pitched) and you start to see why the Wellesley, MA product has cracked the rotation for the Jumbos. His last start against Colby-Sawyer was flat out dominant with ten strikeouts in six scoreless. Expect Superko to capture a NESCAC Pitcher of the Year award before his career ends.
Two weekends of conference of play have gone by, and the East Division looks increasingly muddled. We knew entering the season that Bates and Colby would be improved, Bowdoin and Trinity had lost a lot of talent, and Tufts probably had the most potential in the division. All of that has held true, and it has made the first two weekends unpredictable. Without further ado, here are my rankings of the East so far this season.
1. Tufts (17-1, 1-0) – Putting Tufts first is an easy choice given their dominance so far this season. Yet they have only played one conference game because they were off this weekend and had their doubleheader against Bates postponed two weekends ago. Centerfielder Connor McDavitt ’15 has been outstanding at the top of the linep with a .449 OBP and seven stolen bases without being thrown out once. The Jumbos have great balance on offense and rival Amherst for the best staff in the league. The only possible wart they have shown thus far is their propensity to allow a lot of walks. Ace Kyle Slinger ’15 especially has given out a lot of free passes with 16 walks in 32 innings. Besides that Tufts doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses. Tufts has proven beyond a doubt that they are the best team on paper, but we still aren’t sure how they will look in conference play. Even if they sweep Trinity to go to 4-0 in conference it probably tells us more about Trinity than Tufts. Still, given their talent level, any finish below first in the East will be a surprise.
2. Colby (10-4, 2-1) – This has been the NESCAC’s surprise team so far this season, but people should probably wait a weekend before piling onto the bandwagon. The Colby-Bowdoin series on Friday and Saturday will show if Colby will be in it for the long haul. Right now the Mules are riding high after taking two of three from Trinity. Jason Buco ’15 made us look pretty smart for highlighting him on Friday when he hit two homers the first game of the weekend to up his season total to four. Scott Goldberg ’15 was chased in the fifth inning by the Trinity bats, but Lucas Geoghegan ’14 was superb in relief going 4.1 scoreless innings for the win as Buco’s second homer in the seventh proved to be the difference. Colby couldn’t complete the sweep when Trinity broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth of the finale, but they are still happy with the weekend’s results. Geoghegan (1.76 ERA) has rebounded to his 2012 performance after he saw limited action last season, and both Greg Ladd ’15 (2.50 ERA) and Goldberg (1.53 ERA) have taken a big step forward. All of this has helped Colby’s pitching be much better than last year. If that pitching continues then Colby will prove they aren’t a fluke.
3. Bowdoin (11-6-1, 3-3) – Wait didn’t Bates just beat Bowdoin in two out of three games this weekend! Look, Bates played great and gave Bowdoin trouble, but I am not going to overreact to one weekend of games even if they were head-to-head. Bowdoin is still rounding into form on the mound with Christian Martin ’14 making his first appearance of the year and Henry Van Zant ’15 making his third relief appearance. Bates knocked around both Erik Jacobsen ’15 and Harry Ridge ’16 in the first two games, but the two should rebound. Ridge had been spectacular so far until he allowed six runs in only three innings on Saturday prompting some to worry he will see a repeat of last season when he struggled in some starts while looking great in others. Outfielder John Lefeber ’14 has really struggled in the six league games going 2-22 at the plate. He and Aaron Rosen ’15 (.276 AVG) have yet to bust out at the plate, but have done a good job drawing walks to get on base. Expect those two to show up big in the next few weekends. The good news is that Jay Loughlin ’14 came up huge on the mound in the final game to give Bowdoin the win in the finale, and Bowdoin can reclaim control of their destiny by winning this weekend against Colby.
4. Bates (8-9, 2-2) – They showed why some thought that the Bobcats were primed for a surprise run this season this past weekend against Bowdoin. Our other player to watch heading in to the weekend, Brad Reynolds ’14, won NESCAC Pitcher of the Week after he went six innings, allowed only one (unearned) run, and struck out ten. Kevin Davis ’14 went 8-13 and had an impressive 10 RBIs over the three games. There are a lot of positives right now for Bates, but they are still below .500 on the season. Number two starter Chris Fusco ’14 got knocked around in the second game though the offense was good enough to overcome his lackluster start. Will Levangie ’15 probably solidified his status as the third starter with his performance in the final game, but that was really his first good performance of the season. Behind Davis and Griffin Tewksbury ’14 the offense has been very lackluster. Bates needs those two to continue to rake and others to step up in order for the offense to offset some of the questions about the pitching behind Reynolds.
5. Trinity (7-12, 2-4) – By far the biggest disappointment to-date in the NESCAC in head coach Bryan Adamski’s first season, the Bantams have shown flashes, but at this point it is looking more and more unlikely that they will be able to make a playoff push. The question is exactly how far they have fallen. An optimistic view says they are good enough to steal a game from Tufts and could easily win or even sweep their series against Bates. A pessimist says we are judging them off of past success and they really aren’t that good. The pessimistic view also suggests that we are overrating Colby and Bowdoin for their series victory over the Bantams. The starting pitching this weekend against Colby was very good in every game, but in the first two games the bullpen faltered. The offense was pretty much dormant until it exploded for five runs in the final inning of the second game. The rally fell short by one run, but showed Trinity is not going to go quietly into the night. Brian Wolfe ’15 and Scott Pidgeon ’15 have been carrying the offense, and they need others to step up. With three games still remaining against Tufts, Trinity is in position to force a rise through the rankings if they can put the pieces together.
Editors’ Note: Check back later in the day for our East Division Power Rankings.
1. Amherst (14-4, 4-1)- The relationships between the two conferences of the NESCAC this season seems to mirror the two conferences of the NBA, just with the roles reversed. The East of NESCAC and the West of the NBA has talent and parity up and down the standings, with one team standing out (Tufts and the Spurs). And the West of NESCAC and the East of the NBA have two teams standing out at the top, with the rest of the standings looking a little iffier. The teams at the top of the West are Wesleyan and Amherst. Although Amherst (14-4, 4-1) sits below Wesleyan (14-5, 3-0) in the standings, the Lord Jeffs’ frightening combination of excellent pitching and offense places them in a position to dominate the West for the rest of the season. The Jeffs are hitting at a .323 clip, with a NESCAC-leading eight home runs. The power in the lineup is combined with a pitching staff that comes in third in the league with a 3.60 ERA, and is led by NESCAC Pitcher of the Year candidate Dylan Driscoll ’14. To return to the NBA analogy, Amherst is beginning to look something like this year’s Miami Heat, the team with by far the most talent in the conference, and is now ready to assert that talent on the league after coasting for a time.
2. Wesleyan (14-5, 3-0)- Amherst’s chief competitor for supremacy in the West is the Wesleyan Cardinals. Wesleyan is having a great season, sitting at 14-4 and 3-0 in the conference after a sweep of Middlebury. The Cardinals owe most of their success to a solid offense. The team is batting at a .323 clip, with an .813 team OPS. There is not a ton of power up and down the lineup, but Wesleyan is chock-full of solid hitters who get the job done. However, Wesleyan’s pitching has been shaky thus far, to the tune of a 5.12 ERA. Wesleyan’s fundamentals and offense have sustained them thus far, but the pitching will need to improve if they are to keep pace with Amherst in the West.
3. Hamilton (7-6, 0-2)- Although Hamilton sits at 0-2 in NESCAC, the only team that they’ve played in the league thus far is Amherst, while Williams had a three game sweep of Middlebury to bolster their record. The Continentals have had some offensive struggles so far, hitting only .274 as a team, despite an absurd .465 average from outfielder Joe Jensen ’14. Their pitching has been solid with a 4.15 ERA. With a series win this weekend against Middlebury, they could firmly plant themselves as the third best team in a somewhat weak Western side of NESCAC.
4. Williams (7-7, 4-2)- Williams is having a crazy season thus far. If you looked at just their offensive statistics, you’d believe it if you heard they were undefeated. They are leading the NESCAC in batting average, on base percentage AND slugging percentage, as well as being third in runs. However, Williams’ team ERA sits high above the rest of the league at 8.33. Williams cannot hope to improve their standing if this paradoxical existence continues. If their pitching can improve to being even average, their offense could carry them to make a run at Hamilton. But, if the pitching remains where it is, the offense will fall due to the intense pressure. It’s almost impossible to score nine runs a game against NESCAC pitching.
5. Middlebury (2-11, 0-6)- It was a general consensus in the pre-season that 2014 would be a re-building year for the Panthers. They lost three of their top five offensive players to graduation, and then the two remaining ones left the team soon before games started. This season is about the future for Middlebury, and there have been positives in that direction. First-year Jake Stalcup ’17 has posted a 2.79 ERA over 9.2 innings pitched. Young players like John Luke ’16 and Max Araya ’16 have been showing great potential in the lineup. Struggles like this can often serve to unify a young team in the years going forward. The team showed their mettle by playing Wesleyan tight in all three games of their series last weekend. Like the Ephs, Middlebury has had problems with the pitching staff, although defensive issues have fed into that. This year may be something of a lost season for Middlebury, but the positives from it should reverberate for years to come, and lead to greater successes soon.
Third Baseman Kevin Davis ’14 (Bates) – Davis hit clean up all weekend against Bowdoin, and rarely does anyone fit the bill as perfectly as the 6’3” slugger did in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader. Davis smacked two doubles and a home run en route to seven RBIs in a 13-7 win. On the weekend, Davis went 8-14 with 10 RBI and three doubles. Davis raised his average by 51 points and more than doubled his RBI total to 19, second in the NESCAC.
Middlebury’s Pitching – The Panthers can take away some positives from this weekend’s series at Wesleyan despite the sweep. After looking lost against Williams, it took a shutout from Jeff Blout ’14 in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader and a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the ninth in the second match up from Nick Miceli’17 for the Cardinals to finish off Middlebury. The pitching and defense improved drastically for the Panthers. While ace Eric Truss ’15 still hasn’t found his 2013 form (7 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K on Friday), Middlebury held Wesleyan to five runs (four earned) in the last two games of the series and a .273 average while the Cardinals have hit .323 overall on the season. Cooper Byrne ’15 was great in the seven-inning game (CG, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K) and Logan Mobley ’15 (6IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 0 K) worked his way out of some jams to throw a strong start in the second game. If the Panthers can get the bats going they might just have an effect on the race for the West crown.
Cooper Byrne ’15 tossed his second consecutive complete game on Saturday.
Startin Pitcher John Cook ’15 (Amherst) – Because the third game of the Amherst-Hamilton series was postponed last weekend, Amherst’s number three got his first chance in a league game against rival Williams and was dominant. Cook has huge shoes to fill with older brother and current assistant coach Bob Cook ’13 having departed, and after an up-and-down first couple games the 6’4” hurler put it together and earned his first win on the season. Cook’s line was 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K.
Stock Down:
Second Baseman Jack Roberts ’17 (Williams) – The lefty took the league by storm with his early performance, especially a 6-16 series against Middlebury, but flailed to an 0-12 weekend against the Lord Jeffs, including three strikeouts in the series finale, dropping his average to a still-respectable .290. Roberts is still a dependable hitter with a bright future and the ability to use all fields, but these growing pains are to be expected for any first-year, and we ought to be willing to give him a pass against a vaunted Amherst rotation.
Bowdoin – The Polar Bears get singled out here partially because we talked about Trinity in this column last week and their disastrous fall continued with a 1-2 weekend against Colby in Hartford (although the Bantams were playing as the road team). Bowdoin, meanwhile, now appears to be part of a three-team race for who will join Tufts in the NESCAC playoffs. Perhaps it’s too early to anoint the Jumbos with the divisional crown because they’ve only managed to play one league game, but they’ve looked great out-of-conference. So the second spot will fall to either Bates, Bowdoin or Colby, barring a storming comeback from Trinity, and the Polar Bears set themselves back by losing the series to their in-state rivals. Bowdoin (3-3) and Colby (2-1) still have three games with Tufts ahead, Bates (2-2) has two with the Jumbos and a series on the road against a desperate Trinity team this weekend, while the Mules still need to play both Bowdoin and Bates. CBB action now takes on a lot of meaning this season.
Williams Pitching – Sorry, Ephs fans, if it feels like I’m picking on you guys. Williams should be happy with taking a victory from Amherst, the class of 2014’s first against the Lord Jeffs, but the fact that the team’s league-worst 8.33 ERA was lowered in a weekend where Williams lost one game 16-6 is a testament to the under-performance of the staff so far. While Middlebury’s staff seems to have, at least for now, turned a corner, the Ephs regressed from last weekend to this one. Of course, opponent matters, and Williams faced potentially the most potent offensive in New England this weekend, but the Ephs won’t be able to compete for a division crown until they can hold teams to four or five runs a game. One bright spot is the performance of righty Thomas Murphy ’15. In two league starts, Murphy has tossed 14 innings and given up just one earned run. A key for Murphy is his 2.57 BB/9 rate. He relies on his defense to get outs for him, and his teammates were good enough to help Murphy get his third win of the year on Saturday.
Marquee Matchup: Amherst (12-3, 2-0) at Williams (6-5, 3-0)
The baseball rivalry lacks the cache of basketball and football, but any time these two schools meet it means a little bit more to everyone involved. Williams sits at the top of West after a sweep of Middlebury, but Amherst is clearly the favorite coming into this weekend after winning both of their games last weekend against Hamilton.
Williams is riding high after their offense showed once again its potency. The double play duo of shortstop Matt Kastner ’14 and second baseman Jack Roberts ’17 has posted insane numbers so far. Roberts is batting a nice .360/.396/.440 slashline in the cleanup spot, but his numbers pale in comparison to the outrageous .583/.659/.753 Kastner has been putting up. The rest of the lineup isn’t too shabby either with upperclassmen Marco Hernandez ’14, Thomas Stevens ’14, and Luke Pierce ’15 along with freshman outfielder Jack Cloud ’17 all posting similarly ridiculous stat lines so far. The problem the Ephs have been having is they are allowing almost as many runs as they score. Thomas Murphy ’15 (2.25 ERA) is the only pitcher with more than eight innings to have an ERA below 10.00. The team ERA is an astronomical 9.22. Williams pitching isn’t about to become nasty, but they can be better starting with cutting down on walks. 65 walks over 83 innings is way too many. The pitching staff needs to throw strikes and let a defense that has been very solid, besides Kastner with five errors, to make plays behind them.
Amherst has the luxury of trotting out three senior starters in Dylan Driscoll ’14, Fred Shepard ’14, and Quinn Saunders-Kolberg ’14 who are all owners of ERA’s below 1.06. Driscoll hasn’t allowed one run, earned or unearned, in 22 innings so far this season. The bullpen is led by two-way stud and 2013 NESCAC Rookie of the Year Mike Odenwaelder ’16 (ERA of 2.45) and Keenan Szulik ’16 (ERA of 2.53). All of these guys except maybe Szulik are power pitchers who get hitters out more often than hitters get themselves out. This is clearly the best pitching that Williams will have seen all season, and it will be really interesting to see how the battle of good pitching vs. good hitting plays out. The Jeffs offense is led by seniors Alex Hero ’14 and Taiki Kasuga ’14. Hero must have the most steals for a cleanup hitter in the country with 10 bags so far, and Kasuga is getting on base at a not too shabby .444 rate. Andrew Vandini ’16 gets things started at the top of the lineup and has improved on an already stellar freshman campaign, and Odenwaelder and Connor Gunn ’16 provide the pop in the middle of the lineup.
Amherst has swept Williams the last three years in baseball so this represents the last chance for Williams senior standouts Kastner, Hernandez, and Stevens to take one from the Jeffs. I am certain that the pregame speeches by those three will be fraught with emotion for good reason. You can bet it means just as much for all the Amherst seniors to have the legacy of never losing to Williams. The Ephs are probably hoping some of these games finish with scores resembling a football game while Amherst will look to show how balanced and talented they really are. Should be a fun one this weekend.
Two To Watch
1. Brad Reynolds ’14 Pitcher (Bates)
Bates had the unfortunate draw of facing Tufts and Bowdoin in the first two weekends of conference play. They were only able to play one of their games last weekend which was a loss, and the series this weekend could define their season. If they take two of three they jumble up the East behind Tufts, but losing the series puts them in a hole that would be tough to recover from. That makes Reynolds start this weekend so important. The southpaw has been knocked around a fair amount this year giving up three home runs and sporting a 4.64 ERA, but he looked good last weekend going six innings against Tufts and only allowing two runs. His K/9 rate of 9.70 is up from last year, and his walks are way down as well. If he pitches like the ace Bates need him to be the Bobcats have a chance to shake up the East.
2. Jason Buco ’15 Outfielder (Colby)
Colby has flown under the radar so far because of their late Florida trip, but they posted a very nice record of 8-2 down south. They have their first games up north against Trinity in Hartford. Buco is the outfielder and two sport athlete who does it all for the Mules. He already has two home runs and three stolen bases to supplement his .514 OBP. He needs to have big games this weekend both at the plate and in the outfield. With the emergence of last week’s NESCAC Pitcher of the Week Scott Goldberg ’15 on the mound, the Mules are looking to surprise a Trinity team that can’t take anyone lightly this season. With Tufts playing a non-conference double header against Colby-Sawyer, the hierarchy of the East could either become very clear or extremely cloudy after this weekend.
